In 2014, Clemson wide receiver Artavis Scott recorded a team-high 76 receptions for 965 yards. His counterpart, Mike Williams, grabbed 57 passes for a team-high 1,030 yards. Together, they totaled 14 touchdowns and were one of the best duos in the ACC.
On the other side of the ball, the Tigers led the nation in pass efficiency defense for the first time in the program’s history. Clemson allowed opponents to complete exactly 50 percent of their passes for just 5.27 yards per attempt, 10.5 yards per completion and 157.4 yards per game. The opponent efficiency rating was 98.3.
The secondary is led by cornerback Mackensie Alexander, who was only targeted 57 times last year as a redshirt freshman and allowed just 20 of those to be caught for 280 yards and two touchdowns. He did not allow a single receiver to catch a touchdown pass in the final nine games of the season.
“Iron sharpens iron,” Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson said.
As the guy who is throwing to a corps of receivers that are considered one of the best groups in the country, and does it against one of the nation’s best, if not the best, secondary, Watson says it is fun to watch these two groups go after one another on a daily basis in practice.
“I love it. It helps me out. It gives me different looks and it really helps the receivers out, and the DBs,” he said. “We are just out there making each other better and competing. That’s the fun part of football … the competition and each guy wants to win so it is great that those guys are going out there and going at it.”
So far through seven practices, both groups have had their share of victories. Defensive backs Ryan Carter, Cordrea Tankersley, Marcus Edmond and Mark Fields have all recorded interceptions, with Carter leading the way with four, while Scott, Williams, Trevion Thompson, Deon Cain and Ray Ray McCloud have all made big plays at wide receiver.
“It is great. We go against some of the best and we go out there and compete and have fun,” Scott said. “Going into Saturday you feel more polished and more ready. You face this every day in practice so when you go into the game it is like second nature to whatever you do.”
The competition gets pretty intense during practice. During one-on-one drills last Friday, McCloud was getting the best of safety Jayron Kearse. Scott made a couple of nice catches over Baker, while walk-on receiver Hunter Renfrow humbled Alexander at times.
“Renfrow is going to give it his all every day. It does not matter who goes up against him,” Scott said. “The thing I love about Renfrow … he gives it his all. For me, I look up to him. Though most people don’t know it, I look at him and see how he does his thing and he just goes out there and gives it his all. I love watching him play.”
Later that afternoon, the secondary got the upper hand. Alexander and Tankersley had a couple of passes broken up, while Carter, Tankersley, Fields and safety T.J. Green intercepted five passes combined during 7-on-7, red zone and 11-on-11 drills.
In between plays, there was a little back-and-forth conversation between the two units.
“We don’t really trash talk, but if it is competitive plays we get after it. If you don’t talk, it is boring,” Scott said. “So we are going to do a little bit of talking and go after each other, but at the end of the day we know it is all love and we just go out there and compete.”
In the end, it helps the Tigers when it matters the most.
“Overall, all the different periods we have, the different situations they put us through, the defense has given us many, many looks so on Saturday it makes the whole game slow down and much easier,” Watson said.